Identity Confusion?

The RS1 by the American Locomotive Company was the first in a long line of Road Switchers introduced by the company in early 1941. The RS36 was the final model that Alco sold in 1963. The picture on the front of this post card is of an RS2. The RS2 started as a 1,500 horsepower locomotive but was increased to 1,600 later in the production line. Our friends at Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ALCO_RS-2) tell us this about the development of the RS2 locomotive: “The RS-2 was a further development of the road switcher concept inaugurated with the RS-1. Externally, the RS-2 bodywork was more rounded. A more significant change was the switch from the RS-1's ALCO 539T engine to the ALCO 244, adding horsepower to better handle heavy road service. The new engine was a turbocharged four-stroke V12 diesel engine with a 9 in × 10+1⁄2 in (229 mm × 267 mm) bore and stroke developing 1,500 (later 1,600) hp at 1,000 rpm. Compared to the 539, it had a smaller cylinder and higher cylinder speed. Production of the RS-2 was delayed several months while ALCO worked out the new four-pipe divided low-rise manifold for the GE constant-pressure RD-1 turbocharger. The 244 engine was not a reliable design, however, and was replaced in less than ten years by the ALCO 251 engine.” 377 RS2 models were manufactured from 1946 to 1950. The Lehigh Valley Railroad ordered five RS2 locomotives for their roster. The records that I could find online tell us that the locomotives were numbered from 210 to 214. This picture shows one numbered as 217??? The picture was taken in the yard at Buffalo, New York in 1976; perhaps there were some changes made that warranted a new number for this locomotive. I wrote some information about the Lehigh Valley Railroad in the November 5, 2025, post; you can go back and read about some of its history there. Here is the back of the post card.

This is "Hammerhead", but not like in the shark.

The locomotive on the front of this post card, Lehigh Valley No. 211, was originally built by Alco for the Pennsylvania Railroad in December 1953 and was delivered as PRR 8445. It is unique in that it has a raised short hood used to house the dynamic brakes and a steam generator for heating passenger cars. For obvious reasons it soon got the nickname

“Hammerhead.” It is the only survivor of a group of five RS-3s built with a high short hood for PRR and Western Maryland Railway, and one of only a handful of surviving Conrail rebuilds where the Alco prime mover was replaced with an EMD. The information above was taken from this website: https://rgvrrm.org/about/railroad/lv211/#:~:text=Originally%20built%20for%20Pennsylvania%20Railroad%20in%201953%2C%20the,hood%20gave%20Lehigh%20Valley%20211%20its%20%22Hammerhead%22%20nickname. This website, one of my favourite websites about railroads and railroad related information is the source of the details that follow below: https://www.american-rails.com/lv.html The Lehigh Valley Railroad was another of the many Northeastern carriers built to move anthracite coal from eastern Pennsylvania. The direct predecessor of the Lehigh Valley was the Delaware, Lehigh, Schuylkill & Susquehanna Railroad (DLS&S) incorporated on September 20, 1847. Unfortunately, the DLS&S was having difficulty raising capital. Its fortunes finally turned when Asa Packer breathed new life into the operation. Using his financial success, and with the help of investors, he acquired the DLS&S charter and renamed it as the Lehigh Valley Railroad (LV) in 1853. It is unlikely the Lehigh Valley could have survived into the modern era. The LV competed against several carriers in its territory, notably the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western and Erie, both of whom also reached Buffalo, while the latter continued on to Chicago. One can reasonably argue that its long decline began with the stock market's collapse in October of 1929. The Lehigh Valley Railroad posted its last profits during the 1950s. The LV would, sadly, show a profit for the last time in 1956 and paid its final dividend in 1957, The depression not only weakened the railroad financially but decreasing anthracite demand further hurt its bottom line. In 1928 the PRR began acquiring LV stock and continued to do so throughout the years in an increasingly futile attempt to maintain its investment within the declining company. By April of 1962 it, incredibly, controlled 90% of the road. As much as the railroad tried it was unable to reverse its declining fortunes. Its last hope for survival occurred when the PRR and New York Central created the ill-fated Penn Central Transportation Company in 1968. As Penn Central literally fell apart from its first day of service it came as no surprise that just two years later, in 1970, it declared bankruptcy. It was one of the numerous bankrupts rolled into Conrail whereupon its routes were considered superfluous.

Useful Then, and Useful Now

The railroad station pictured on the front of this post card is in Cortland, New York. Cortland is only about 55 kilometers (35 miles) from Syracuse, New York and 70 kilometers (40 miles) from Binghamton – almost due north and south between the two cities.

So, it makes sense that the first railroad to reach Cortland was the Syracuse and Binghamton Railroad, a forerunner of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, which opened a line between Syracuse, New York, and Binghamton, New York, on October 18, 1854. It was joined in 1872 by the New York and Oswego Midland Railroad, which extended west from its existing line at Norwich, New York, to Freeville, New York. This line was later leased by the Elmira, Cortland and Northern Railroad, which in turn became part of the Lehigh Valley Railroad in 1896. The present building was constructed in 1910–1911, with a formal opening on April 4, 1911. The brick building measured 155 by 50 feet and stood two stories tall. The space was sufficient to contain a waiting room, baggage room, a "women's retiring room", a smoking room, and a ticket office. The second floor was given over to company offices. It replaced the original station, which had served both freight and passengers. A new freight house was also built. Traffic declined on the Elmira and Cortland Branch after World War I, and the Lehigh Valley gradually reduced service throughout the 1930s and 1940s. The last scheduled passenger service, between Cortland and DeRuyter, New York, ended on April 25, 1948. Limited service remained in the form of mixed trains. Even these ended south of Cortland on April 30, 1950, leaving a roundtrip between Cortland and Canastota, New York. This was effectively withdrawn after 1954. Lackawanna passenger service ended in 1958. The Lehigh Valley abandoned the branch north of Cortland in 1967. Most of the branch south of Cortland was out of service by the mid-1970s. Conrail, successor to the Lehigh Valley, abandoned all but 3 miles (4.8 km) within the vicinity of Cortland. This line is owned by the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway. The station is still standing today. As I searched the internet for information, I came to the conclusion that the old station is the heart of the Cortland Community Centre. This is their website: http://cortlandcommunitycenter.org/ It looks like they are just starting to develop this website.

The post card was published by the William Jubb Company. The business started in 1908 and continued until the Great Depression era in the 1930s. The company published view-cards depicting scenes from western New York State. Their white-border cards manufactured in the United States were printed on a textured paper similar to that of linen cards. This is one of two post cards I have from this company.